Rail-joint.



i A. L. STANFORD RAIL JOINT. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1909 mime , Patented May 3, N10.

T D STATES rare @FFKQE.

ARTHUR L. STAN-FORD; OF CHICAGO, IIJIJINOIS', ASSIGl-NUH-TO THE RAEMJOINT- COM- PANY; OF NEW YORK; N. Y-., A. OORBORAZE-ION OF NEW YORK.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters 4 Patent.

Patented May a; retro;

Application filed January 9, 1909. Serial No. 471,494.

flanges afford: suflicient resiliency. to permit i To, all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR L. STANFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a specification.

In the application of: splice bars to the abuttingiends of adjacent rail sections, it is desirable to bring the upper edge of the splice bar firmly against the under face of the rail head, andto bring the side and base flanges of the splice bar into close andfirm engagement with the upper and. lower faces of the rail flange, so that three contact surfaces will be afforded for firmly and securely holding the rail sections in proper relation to one anothen In splice bars of the present standard style, which are in-- tended to clamp the rail flange as in the jaws of aivise, difliculty is often experienced in properly positioningth'e splice bar in place to bring the points of contact into proper engagement, and this is especially true where the rail'flanges are a trifle thick or the rail headaltrifle thin. To meet this contingency it frequently happens that splice bars are forcibly driven to place with a sledge, with-theresult thatacrack or fissure is started at the bend or elbow between the side flange and the base flange of the splice bar. A fissure thus formed, will, under the onerous condition of continued usage, rapidly increase in size until the splice bar is completely broken through .at this point, thereby impairing the safety of the track and resulting in possible danger to life and property. Furthermore, in the use of splice ars having this wedging or clamping act1on, it frequently happens that the clamped rails are. cracked or broken inline with the ends of the splice bars, which is the point at which such Wedging or clamping action begins. This is due, primarily, to the abrupt transltion, in the rail, from. a relatively free vibration to a locked or clamped condition in which such vibratory action is practically eliminated.

The rail joint of the present invention isintended to overcome all of the objections above noted,'both as regards the breaking of the splice bars and the rails themselves, by providing splice bars in which the connection between the side flanges and the base flange in the usual manner.

the flanges to spread or contract in a suitable manner to fit themselves to the conditions encountered. The splice bar, further, is so tapered or graduated at its ends that the tendency of the rails to break at this point will be greatly diminished, if not entirely eliminated.

.Further objects of. the invention. are to so construct the splice bar that it can be easily,

rolled in commercial-quantities in a rolling mill, and so that splice bar sections can be formed without waste, and can be applied to the rails without. dificulty.

Further objects will appear from a detailed; description of the invention, which consists in the. features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

Inthe drawings, Figure 1 is a sectioned perspective view of one-half of. the rail joint of the present invention; Fig. 2 a side elevation of the ends of companion splice bars; and Fig. 3 an endelevation of a joint of slightly modified form The rail joint, of. the form shown in Fig. 1, comprises companion splicebars 3, which are oppositely beveled ontheir adjacent ends L, to graduate the clamping action at the ends of. the joint. The splice bars are adapted to provide the usual points of en: gagement as. the rail ends,an'd each of them comprises a vertical body portion 5, which is inwardly thickened at its upper edge 6 to abut against the under face. of the railhead in the usual. manner. The splice bar further comprises adiagonally extending side flange? which engages. the upper face of the rail-flange from its inner angle to its outer ed e, the innercorner. 8 of the splice bar eing thickened and rounded to abut against the inner angle of the rail. The splice bar furthercomprises a flat base flange '9, which is preferably somewhat thinner than the side flange 7,

which base flange underlies the flat face of the rail and is adapted toclamp the rail Ihe side flange andthe base flange are connected by. an. en-

larged loop 10, the metal of which is of equal thickness with the base flange, which loop springs from the level of the base flange and rounds up on a curve of sufficient magnitude to brin the upper face of the bend considerably a ove the connecting edge hi hly objectionable in that it tails to satis actorily overcome the tendency to break,

side of the edge of-the rail flange,-'and to provide a clearance between the splice bar and the rail flange back to a point considerably inside of the edge of the rail flange. This method otforming the-s lice bar is and at the same time reduces the contact between the splice bar and the rail to a very objectionable degree. The splice bar'of the present invention is so formed that it can be driven to place and spiked without much diificulty, and without any danger of cracking the splice bar. The tapered formation of the ends of the splice bars enables the latter to be applied to the rail ends in the usual manner, and serves to graduate the clamping action to the extent necessary to prevent breakage withoutya preciably in creasing the cost of manuacture of the splice bars, which has been the case where it has been sou ht to obtain a similar result by raduating t e thickness of the splice bars troln the center to the ends thereof.

Fig. 3 discloses arail joint of integral formation, which is exactly like that previously described, save only that in place of two companion splice bars disconnected below the rail, the structure has been united into an integral form having a continuous base web 11 in place of a palr of separated flanges. The form possesses the characteristics previously referred to, and in additionfthe body of the rail joint on each side can be driven to lace-without distorting the metal of the 'joint at any point, save in the loops, which are suitably formed and intended to permit of such action. In an integral construction, in bringing the clampin members into close contact with the rail, on either side, it is necessary that the metal be slightly bent or distorted, since the integral formation of the base web prevents any free movement, as is the case in the individual formation shown in Fig. 1.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with two abutting rail sections, a pair of splice bars, each comprising a body portion, a side flange, a base flange, and a loop connecting the base flange with the side flange, said loop being formed to have an inner diametergreaterthan the most contracted space between the base flange and the side flange, said splice bars being beveled at their ends from top to botfrom the flat base flange and ronnding up above the level of the side flange at the point of connection therewith, affording an inner opening of greater diameter than the most contracted space between the base flange and the side flange, said splice bars being beveled at their ends from top to bottom in opposite directions, substantially as described.

3. In combination with two abutting rail sections, a pair of splicebars, each comprising a vertical body portion, a side flange and a connected base flange, the side flanges and the base flanges. serving to clamp the flanges of the rail sections, andthe adjacent ends of thecompanion splice bars being beveled from top to bottom in opposite directions, substantially as described.

4. In combination with the abutting rail sections, a rail joint comprising two splice bars having their adjacent ends beveled from top to bottom in opposite directions, substantially as described.

5. In a rail joint, the combination with the rails, ofoppositely arranged separate joint bars engaging beneath the rail heads, and each of which joint bars comprises a body portion, a foot flange having continuous contact with the upper side of therail flange from a point near the rail web to the extreme outer edge of the rail flange, a horizontal inwardly extending base section underlying the'rail bottom, and a bend integrally connecting the base section with the said foot flange, said bend springing from the base section and rounding up above the level of the foot flange at the point of con nection therewith, after-ding an inner opening of greater diameter than the most contracted space between the base section and the foot flange.

ARTHUR L. STANFURD. Witnesses:

SAMUEL W. BANNING, WALKER BANNING. 

